Nara

For whatever reason Nara has a lot of deer running around. They want cookies, but I didn't buy them cookies this time. I just patted some of them that didn't look mean. Like this one. They aren't scared of people and will come and say hello (I want food).

Nara is a good day trip from Kyoto if you are up for walking around. It's about a 860 for one way, so a little expensive for me as a budget traveler. It's not too difficult to get there but I do suggest you know the kanji for Nara and your transfer stop (mine happened to be Tofukuji). Even still, there is always someone who speaks English somewhere around.

In Nara there isn't just deer, there is Todaiji, a massive complex with a large statue Buddha inside. There is also a large golden one as well. Although Todaiji might not be as decorated as Kinkakuji (golden pavilion), it is just stunning. The wood is old and it's age shows. Pictures can't show just how massive this building is. It's truly stunning. 

I walked back along the park road, passing many deer as I went. I picked up street food. Half of a massive baked sweet potato. I love the sweet potato here. It isn't pink on the inside like in America. More like a yam type thing, but sweet, hot and tasty! I passed through Kofukuji, a Buddhist temple. There were also deer there as well. Some tried to take my sweet potato. My potato.

The good thing about Nara is that it's a perfect day trip, even half a day if you aren't just strolling along. It was getting cold out and was cloudy all day, which made it feel rather late even though I finished up around three in the afternoon. From the JR Nara Station everything is just a walk away and it's not all that complicated to get to. There is an English map you can pick up with all the sight seeing spots. No buses needed, just walk!

Not actually home home. I'm going to my host families home which is home enough.

Now, I tried to be really cheap on this trip. Which mean I decided to go by bus and train everywhere. That being said, I took a bus from Sendai to Tokyo in the morning, a bus from Tokyo to Osaka later that night and took a train to Fukuoka that morning, then a train to Arao that evening. Needless to say I needed a shower, but saved a bundle.

The bus company I used was: WillerBus. The website is in English and the prices are cheap! There are different buses, from plain seats with no features, to capsule hotel style seats. Of course they get more expensive, but I think I paid about 25UDS each way on these buses and they were great. No one talks. Only women sit with women and they visit a rest stop almost every two hours or so.

Omurice and Tonkatsu

Between Tokyo and Osaka I was at the station for a while so I got dinner of my comfort food of omurice and tonkatsu. I finished it all in hopes to store up for the winter ahead. I then went to the book store to read an entire book while standing there for four hours.

Pictures from the Bus

Rice Fields, not perfect grass.

After that long journey, I came home and my host mother picked up me up the station. She fed me sweets, then I showered and went to bed.

Thought my trip was over? I have half a month more of playing around now! Look forward to me struggling while climbing a mountain, painting spiky chestnuts and going to Nagasaki!

The subway wasn't so difficult. On day one, yeah it was confusing, but after riding it a few times, you get used to it.

Here is a great website to use to educate yourself before hand. I didn't think to use it. Tokyo Metro. In Japan, subways are all the same. Same ticket booth, same maps, etc. Sometimes they are not in English nor in Hiragana. Good news is that on all of the metro lines the stations are announced in both English and Japanese. I heard Chinese a few times too.

To start, you can purchase tickets at touch screen computers. Just look at the map above, see where you want to go and it says the price from the current station. The computers can be put in English. **Carry 1000 yen bills and coin, as most do not accept anything greater than that unless you are going far on the JR. (JR is not the same as the metro, but there is a JR Loop Line in Tokyo)

Now you get a small ticket. When you enter, put it in the little slot and TAKE IT on you way out of the ticket gate. You need this to get off. When you arrive at your destination, put it in the slot. You don't get it back. If you get off after what you paid for, there are correctional computers where you put your ticket in and it tells you the amount you need to add, then you can exit! Simple.

SUBWAY ETIQUETTE: Japan has subway etiquette. Such as standing in line. There are marked areas where the doors will be. Stand in line. Some cars are female only for rush hour. If you are female, take those. Rush hour is around 8 am and 5pm. I suggest traveling before that, or after that, unless you want to be squished between awkward businessmen. Don't put luggage on seats, offer seats to elderly. Obviously don't litter and no smoking on the subway trains.

(Click to zoom in)

It looks confusing but it's easier than New York. Everything is color coded and numbered.

By reading up on the different lines you can find what is closest to what. There are also private rail companies, not metro, that run through Tokyo. Like the Tsukuba Express which goes from right next to my hostel to Akihabara. Even if you can't read the name of the station, you can know where to go by the station number. There is also the JR Yamanote line (which is not Tokyo Metro) that loops through Tokyo.

For those traveling just in Tokyo you don't need a JR Pass and it's probably a waste of money to get one. The fare between stations is fairly cheap. Take the subway, even if it seems difficult. Taxi are expensive and often times don't speak English, nor do many accept credit cards! 

MONEY MATTERS: Tokyo has more places that accept credit cards, but if you are simply here on vacation, take cash. Exchange in your home country and come with cash, as Japan is a very cash based society. Coins are very much used and it isn't strange to walk around with fat wallets. NO TIPPING IN JAPAN. 

If you do bring a card, you can take out cash from JP Bank. (Which is also the post office). They have ATM's in English but of course there will be a fee.

Today was the day of getting lost. I got so lost, so often that I started thinking: "Well, it could be worse. At least I am in the right country."

I went to Shinjuku, Harauku and Shibuya today.

Shinjuku and Shibuya has the famed, terribly busy crossing that we think of when we see Tokyo. It's used in movies, almost as a symbol of Tokyo. In my whole time in Japan, the most homeless people I ever saw was here, and there were two. (Or maybe they were just passed out drunk, I don't know.)

Yes I walked in it, but no, I didn't stay for long. I took this from the window (you can see the X shadows from the window) from the station.
Shinjuku station is also famous for Hachiko (the dog who waited at the station every day for his owner even after he passed away). It's the number 1 meet up spot in Japan. (And of course it took me forever to find the damn exit)

After getting lost, and more lost, and so very lost. I ended up taking a train to Harajuku to see Takeshitadori which is a street known for shopping, crazy clothes, music and youth. Many people cosplay here, dressing as their favorite anime character. The latest trends are said to come out of this street, but sometimes the fashion seems a little too wild. (Or maybe I am being old.)

Takeshita Street

Half of them are foreigners

A typical storefront

You crazy kids (and the foreigner taking a photo with you)

The fun didn't stop there. After I was done with the crazy crowded youth, I went to Meiji shrine. It was hot. I mean, really hot. The sky was blue, but it was so bright that it looks bright white. My sunglasses were not enough. The walk is beautiful and rather long. It was high noon so not much shade.

THAT IS ALL SAKE

BEAUTIFUL SAKE

Less crowded and so beautiful

I did a loop around the shrine, out the back, went back through Takeshita street the back way, then went across the street to Yayogi Park. I didn't stay long because there were many mosquitoes and it was getting late afternoon. It's a beautiful active park, filled with joggers, kids playing catch, or the occasional students doing homework.

Oh. And these rockabilly groups who, despite the painful heat and humidity, still danced for us foreigners.

I had maps, I had train tickets, I prepared everything, but still got lost. I constantly got turned around and spent a lot of time wandering. I was able to do all of these in a day, but it was definitely tiring. I came back a little early to shower, get dinner at a small restaurant and went to bed early.

Why early?

Because tomorrow...

DISNEY LAND!

After a long day in Himeji, we went to Osaka. We never stayed in a hotel in Himeji, as it was only about an hour and a half between there and Osaka on the local JR Sanyo. (So on one ticket we went from Okayama to Osaka at less than 20US.)

I stayed with my friend who lives in Osaka! She was very kind to let me stay!

The first day we were prevented from much because the typhoon hit. It was basically a bad hurricane, as typhoons are pretty much hurricanes. Lots of rain, lots of wind, trains were shut down. We stayed in, slept in, relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. My American friend, Jenny, who traveled with me up until Osaka, had to leave just two nights later.

Naruho and I visited Fushimi Inari Shrine in Southern Kyoto. (Kyoto is near Osaka.) It's a brilliant red shrine with several thousands of red gates. Each year there is a new one. You can walk up the mountain under them, then back down. There are two sets of gates (an up one and a down one, although some foreigners made their own rules). 

Fushimi Inari Shrine

And it goes on and on and on and on

Inari is the Shinto God of Rice and a fox is said to be the messenger for this god, therefore there are many fox statues. There are thousands of shrines for Inari, but this is the most important. This shrine has also been labeled as one of the top shrines for foreigners to visit. (Kyoto is the most popular city, not Tokyo!)

Fox!

**A Shrine is Shinto, a Temple is Buddhist.

You can see how intense the rain was...

 Okayama was... wet. It rained. We lucked out in Hiroshima, but Okayama was wet. Typhoon was upon us.

We had an amazing little hotel, Hotel Maira. The room felt more western, as it was bigger than I expected, with wifi, a comfortable bed and a nice clean bathroom. They had free vanilla ice cream, coffee/drinks and free breads for breakfast. It was about twenty-five per night. I would have liked to stay longer just because the hotel was nice and in a central location

We arrived early, left our stuff there and went out exploring, despite the rain.

We went to Korakuen, one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan. Even soaked and hot it was beautiful. We had a beautiful view of Okayama castle (which is much smaller than other castles we have seen.).

Beautiful koi filled lake in the center.

 We crossed a bridge to get to the castle which was setting up for an event later that night. If it had been nice out we would have gone. It was a relaxed day for the most part, as we weren't far from our hostel. A short walk and bus ride.

Golden fish from the top observatory

Okayama Castle. Raining, and bloody hot, yet still beautiful.

Okayama was a nice city, very green. We didn't get to see too much since we were there for a day. Despite having one of the top three gardens and a creepy black castle, this city is famous for PEACHES. Peaches the size of your FACE that taste so wonderful. They cannot be compared to any sort of peach in America. Completely different and so wonderful.

A famous childrens tail takes place in Okayama, and it has to do with peaches! A boy born from a peach! Here is the tail Momotaro (The Peach Boy!).

So now that I am back at my school, I think it's time to start posting. I have been on vacation for a little over a month and have been many places. I'll be posting often about where I have been and what I have done!

To start off, as I mentioned before, I stayed with my host family for about a week, then began my long journey to Hiroshima. That turned out to be a little exciting.

Seishun 18 Kippu (Young 18 Ticket)

I traveled with that ticket there. (Not my photo). For about 100 US, for any five days I can use the JR for as much as I like. It is available for "Young 18" year old students to use it while on vacation, as it is only available in August (summer vacation) and February (winter vacation). So a trip that would have been over 250 US in trains alone turned into just 100 US.

From Arao we took the local JR commuter to Hakata station in Fukuoka. I met up with Jenny and we took the slow, local JR lines with multiple transfers. The whole time we were being chased by a nasty typhoon as well. For most of the day it was nice out. Although we painfully spent it on trains. I do mean the whole day. About 9 hours. We started at 10 am and arrived in Hiroshima at around 8.

We didn't have trouble, at first. But the train from Shimonseki to Hiroshima was delayed because of a nasty mudslide on the tracks. My nasty, I mean 72 people have currently been declared dead with many still missing and now assumed dead at this point. We passed damaged houses covered in solid masses of mud. There was so much rainfall and more to come. (Since dad would have had a heart attack at the time, I decided to keep that until I got home.)

The best part of taking the slow trains was the beautiful scenary. The shinkansen, as fast and cool as it is, goes through tunnels while the JR typically goes around mountains at low speeds. Japan is not full of robots, high tech and factories. It is filled with fields of what looks like bright green grass, but is actually rice. I don't see just grass often. Mountains are huge, covered with rows of tall green pines that looked like they were planted in perfect rows. So thick you cannot hike through. Scattered towns are huddled close together, with houses without yards, but surrounded by massive rice fields or gardens.